{"id":2255,"date":"2014-05-28T11:31:26","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T16:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/?p=2255"},"modified":"2015-04-24T16:10:18","modified_gmt":"2015-04-24T21:10:18","slug":"is-windows-8-1-worth-it-for-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poweradmin.com\/blog\/is-windows-8-1-worth-it-for-gaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Windows 8.1 Worth It for Gaming?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Is<\/a><\/strong>The start button is back! This may be all that people seem to care about, in the latest update to Microsoft\u2019s controversial new Windows, but there are<\/span> actually some decent improvements in this substantial update. So, now that the idea of a Windows 8 PC<\/a> isn\u2019t one that makes you feel queasy, the big <\/span>question is: can it run games?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Initial reports seem to be positive, with many gamers reporting that they\u2019re seeing improved FPS (frames per second) even at maximum settings. Battlefield 4, a popular<\/span> benchmark for gamers, has been recording a 10-15% improvement in performance. There is another contingent, with their own set of results that argues there <\/span>is a negligible difference between the two platforms.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

HardOCP<\/a><\/span> and Toms Hardware<\/a> both ran comprehensive tests on the new<\/span> platform. HardOCP used Battlefield 4 as their testing grounds. Toms Hardware used a whole collection of games including: Battlefield 3, Borderlands 2, <\/span>Crisis 2 and Dirt: Showdown. Both sites set benchmarks with AMD and NVIDIA hardware.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Is There A Performance Advantage?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Performance<\/a>HARDOCP: Windows 8.1 has a consistent performance advantage over Windows 7<\/a>. This advantage extended not only to the GPU\u2019s, but also to the game performance <\/span>during play. When it comes to performance, it would appear that NVIDIA is getting the most out of the 8.1 update. TOMS: All of their graphs were within the margin of error of one another, implying that in terms of performance there\u2019s a negligible difference to the <\/span>discerning gamer.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Is Image Quality Any Better?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"8.1<\/a>HARDOCP: Negligible, the advantages were so small (3-6%) that they were unable to raise the resolution of the game, or the anti-aliasing. Essentially, the <\/span>game will look the same on your computer, no matter what OS you use.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Is The Gameplay Experience Better?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Is<\/a>HARDOCP: A resounding yes. While playing on Windows 7 HardOCP experienced \u2018choppiness\u2019 as they played in both the multiplayer and \u2018test range\u2019 maps. This<\/span> choppiness was more pronounced on the NVIDIA card than the AMD. Once they upgraded to 8.1, the choppiness disappeared and moving was much smoother in both <\/span>the test and multiplayer map.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

TOMS: Not really, of the ten games they sampled, only one showed a significant difference in frame rate, and that was actually a reduction from 86.6 to 81 <\/span>FPS. Even so, this drop is so negligible as to not really be noticeable unless you\u2019re tracking it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Toms Hardware did post this caveat to their review, however: \u201csome of the performance, power management, compatibility, and battery efficiency improvements that would have required a service pack update in the past<\/span> are now being made available through Windows Update much sooner.<\/span> Thus, it\u2019s possible that, in some situations, performance and compatibility will improve on zero-day as a result of Microsoft\u2019s new delivery mechanism.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Is It Worth It?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Gaming<\/a>For HardOCP, with their target audience being BF4 players, the decision was tight. There is a small performance advantage, but not necessarily enough of<\/span> one to justify the upgrade. It\u2019s definitely faster, so those looking for a competitive edge may be tempted. If you\u2019re just looking for an upgrade to your <\/span>visuals however, you\u2019re probably best off giving it a miss.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As far as Tom\u2019s Hardware is concerned however, there really is a negligible difference between the systems, so if your only reason to upgrade to windows <\/a><\/span>8.1<\/a> is to improve your gaming performance, they would advise against it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Optimizing for Gaming<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

If you do decide to upgrade your OS to 8.1, there are a couple of things you can do to ensure that it\u2019s operating to the best of its ability:<\/span><\/p>\n